As the sources of Islamic law are limited and contemporary problems unlimited, one may question how jurists – fuqaha deal with the process of ijtihad to provide verdicts on an ever-increasing variety of issues.

The answer lies with General Principles of Jurisprudence, in which the faqih devotes utmost effort to locate appropriate principles to apply to the subject in question. For example, if questioned about Islamic rulings on 'Organ Transplant', he/she will search within the original sources of law, i.e. the Qur'an, ahadith, consensus of earlier jurists, and employ intellectual reasoning (including analogy (qiyas), in order to confirm its validity). If he/she cannot trace suitable texts or proofs regarding its permissibility or non-permissibility, he/she is obliged to refer to general principles, such as the principle of permissibility (which is discussed in chapter 2).

Based on the above, the mujtahid will conclude that organ transplants are permissible within Islamic law. He or she will apply the same method, using other general principles, to give answers to specific problems.

Many general principles appear in the reference books of Jurisprudence but here we will only discuss thirty:

1. Possession Indicates ownership

2. The principle of permissibility

3. The principle of validity

4. The principle of purity

5. Islamic law does not occasion harm

6. Islamic law does not occasion unbearable hardship

7. Certainty is not challenged by doubt

8. When a text is clear, interpretations are unacceptable

9. Liability for damage

10. Avoidance of disadvantage has priority over considerations of benefit

11. Rulings regarding conflicts in evidence

12. Table of priorities

13. Casting lots

14. Ends do not justify means

15. Contracts are based upon the intentions of participating parties

16. Not to co-operate in the perpetration of sinful actions

17. Those who have been deceived are entitled to redress

18. Actions undertaken with good intent do not incur liability

19. Nursling nurture establishes ties equivalent to blood relationships

20. Reliance on the 'Muslim market'

21. Invalid terms and conditions of contract

22. Custom circumscribes religious rulings

23. Summary knowledge is as binding as detailed knowledge

24. Persistent doubts are to be ignored

25. All liquids that cause intoxication are considered impure

26. Inability to fulfil a religious duty does not absolve one from obligation

27. Dissimulation and its manifestations

28. The execution of a will has precedence over distribution of assets

29. Speculative analogies do not provide valid bases

30. Changes of circumstance lead to changes in rulings